Good morning. It's Monday. We'll get a preview of a new campaign to boost New York that has a back-to-the-future ring. |
 | | New York State Department of Economic Development |
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I ♥ NY caught on as an icon and a catchphrase in the late 1970s, when New York seemed to be descending to new depths. The city had scraped through a fiscal crisis — barely. The "Son of Sam" killer had terrified New Yorkers. The sentence "Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning" had disturbed them. |
This morning, a coalition of elected officials and "community partners" will introduce a new campaign with the mark (as such things are called in advertising and marketing) We ♥ NYC. |
The people who came up with We ♥ NYC say it is a mark for a different time. But they see parallels to the troubled era that gave rise to I ♥ NY. |
"We're hopefully going to be able to cut through divisiveness and negativity" that accompanied the pandemic, said Kathryn Wylde, the president and chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, a consortium of corporations and business executives that is leading the We ♥ NYC campaign. |
She said that besides rejuvenating people's spirits, "we want to remind them they can make a difference, whether it's on the block or in the city as a whole." She added: "We want to remind them we don't have to maintain these divisions that have grown up between business and labor and rich and poor." |
She cited surveys her group had conducted during the pandemic. "The results we've gotten back are people in New York want to be part of fixing what they see as broken in the city," she said. |
In the most recent survey, she said, 67 percent of the respondents said the city was going in the wrong direction, but 70 percent of those between 18 and 40 said they wanted to volunteer to help improve it. For We ♥ NYC, the partnership has lined up more than 15 other nonprofit groups and churches that can serve as conduits to engage people across the city. |
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have been invited to the kickoff of the campaign. "This We ♥ NYC campaign will help to capture that energy and preserve the city's spirit by encouraging New Yorkers of every background to come together, get involved and make a positive change in their community," Hochul said in a statement. |
Like I ♥ NY, We ♥ NYC is making use of Broadway stars. At the event this morning, Anna Uzele, who plays Francine Evans in the soon-to-open musical "New York, New York," will sing the title song from a show the producers describe as "a glittering love letter to the greatest city in the world." |
Maryam Banikarim, a former chief marketing officer of Hyatt, Gannett, NBCUniversal and Univision whose agency worked on developing the new campaign, said We ♥ NYC "was meant to live alongside" I ♥ NY, which is controlled by Empire State Development, a state agency that has sanctioned the use of We ♥ NYC. "The pandemic made clear we have to fight for the things we love," Banikarim said, "and no question we all love New York." |
The I ♥ NY logo was the work of the legendary designer Milton Glaser, who roughed it out with a crayon on the back of an envelope while riding in a taxi. Graham Clifford, the designer and art director who oversaw the look of the new logo, said the idea was to "give it more of a modern twist." |
"We wanted to reference the original mark but push it in a different direction" with a font adapted from the one on subway signs, he said. "The subway system is the veins or the beating heart of the city," he said, adding that "you can have Wall Street types sitting next to construction workers. It's a place where you can bring everybody together, and we're cognizant of that." |
Matthew Quint, who is the director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at the Columbia University business school and is not involved in the We ♥ NYC campaign, did a quick online search for the phrase "we heart NYC" and found that it had been used for an all-star concert in Central Park that was supposed to celebrate the city's emergence from the pandemic. The concert, in August 2021, had to be halted because of lightning. |
Quint said the new campaign could confuse consumers who might not see a distinction between "New York" in the original campaign and "New York City" in the new one. "My prediction, and prediction is folly, is social media will make fun — 'why did you need to change one of the most iconic logos in the world,'" he said. The new campaign needs to make clear "why this is different, why it's we-oriented," he said. |
In one key way, there is no parallel between current times and the fiscal-cliff days of the 1970s, in Wylde's view. Back then, she said, "we could not depend on city government to do anything." In contrast, she was positive about Mr. Adams. "This mayor has all the right messages," Wylde said. |
But she said that a mayor could only do so much. |
"This is not going to be fixed top-down," she said, "and the mayor by definition is top-down. It's going to be fixed when people in their community feel something positive is going on. That's what we've got to create." |
Enjoy a sunny day near the low 50s. The evening is mostly clear, with temps dropping to the upper 30s. |
In effect until April 6 (Passover). |
 | | Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times |
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I own a Leica camera that I thought might need an adjustment, so I went to the Leica store in SoHo. |
I explained to one of the staff members there that although the camera worked perfectly, I thought it might need an adjustment. |
The man examined it carefully. |
"Yes," he said, "I see what you mean, but as you said, it works perfectly. Let's have the store manager take a look at it as he has the most experience." |
The manager emerged from the back of the store and proceeded to examine the camera. He agreed that it might need an adjustment. |
"Oh, I hope they don't have to send this to Leica," I thought to myself. "Nothing about Leica is inexpensive." |
The manager took out some tools and started to make adjustments. First one thing, then another. |
"There," he said. "Good as new." |
"How much do I owe you?" I asked. |
"Here's what I want you to do," he said. "Go out of the store, turn right and walk down to Prince Street. Make a right and go to the coffee shop right there and bring me back a honey, ginger, lemon tea." |
I thought he was kidding at first, but I quickly realized he wasn't. So, dutifully, I left all my stuff in the store, went out and got the tea and returned. |
"Thanks a lot," the man said when I got back. "We are all squared away." |
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. |
| Melissa Guerrero and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. |
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